BANKING LAW

Banking law, investments, pension funds and insurance

Standing up to the bank — with the lawyer who has already done it.

Mr Geert Lenssens built his reputation in the courtroom — not alongside the banks, but against them. His track record in banking disputes is unique in Belgium: he represented thousands of aggrieved clients, investors and savers in a series of high-profile cases that permanently changed the Belgian banking landscape. Below are a few examples of well-known cases, although most matters fortunately remain out of the media spotlight.

At Citibank, he assisted clients confronted with investment products that did not match their risk profile, where the bank had breached its duty of information and care. After a litigation including a conviction, he obtained a settlement. In the Lernout & Hauspie case, he had the entire management convicted under criminal law. At Fortis — and later BNP Paribas Fortis — he defended shareholders who suffered heavy losses due to the disastrous takeover of ABN AMRO and the bank’s subsequent collapse, during which crucial information was withheld from investors. He filed the first criminal complaint and obtained a settlement. In the Spaarselect – SWISS LIFE case, he obtained convictions and later a settlement. In the DEXIA BANK – Legio Lease case, he obtained a settlement. In a BNP PARIBAS FORTIS case involving a fraudulent bank director, he obtained a conviction upheld on appeal. In the Optima Bank case, he represents clients and obtained a first-instance criminal conviction of the bank’s senior management. Beyond these, there are countless other cases that never reached the media, in which he works discreetly.

In mid-2026, Mr LENSSENS once again drew national attention. A summary proceedings judge in Antwerp ruled that banks are required to compensate phishing victims immediately — without waiting for a criminal investigation or an internal bank inquiry. Mr LENSSENS was not involved in that case but provided expert commentary on the ruling, stating that it was a landmark precedent that would have major consequences for the sector. His analysis: banks are dragging their feet and failing to comply with the law — but the courts are beginning to correct them.

Their track record in these cases makes LENSSENS & Partners a firm of choice for anyone in conflict with a financial institution: flawed investment advice, unsuitable products, losses the bank should have prevented, credits and mortgages gone wrong, or a phishing claim wrongly rejected. We are never on the bank’s side. Always on the side of consumers and businesses.